Saturday, February 15, 2014

As time goes by, the hype of this special day appears to be more like purely commercial rather than anything else.

Aside from building huge profits for restaurants, hotels, bake shops and the flower industry, the entertainment world has its own shares of lucrative revenue through concerts, musical plays and movie dates.

But whether it is over-commercialization or just a simple celebration of love, Valentine's day, no doubt is one of the most important special celebrations in a year that most people always look forward to, and oh yes, did I mention business establishments too? ^___^

And with all the hype of intense expression of love for this celebration, the moment this date of February arrives the atmosphere of the environment would sometimes transform into tension, most often than not, V-day caused so much anxieties among lovers.

Why? Well, because unlike other special celebrations in a year, Valentine's day is only a one-day event so it's like you get a bouquet of flowers/a box of chocolate on that day or never, so lovers often caught up in the web of tension to come up with something special, luxurious and romantic. Pressure overrides excitement among people during this day. Except me hehe!

For the past two decades, the story of my Valentine's day remains the same. Nothing has change, Nothing to look forward to. But I am not bitter nor remorseful. I just accepted the fact that it's not for me and maybe could never spend it with special someone in my lifetime. Cannot relate to the rosy excitement of couples when V-Day comes.

So what did I do yesterday while lovers in every corner of the world exchanged cute glances, romantic notes and flowers and chocolates?

Nothing. What else is new?

It was just an ordinary day and I reported to work as usual. I woke up at 4:20 in the morning and prepared for my travel to McKinley, Taguig. It was a freezing early morning!

I left the house at 5:20 and caught a jeepney ride for Novaliches where I had to take another ride for Trinoma to be at the MRT station. Even though my work schedule is at 9:00 in the morning, I need to leave the house very early because the long queue at the MRT station gets heavier as the rush hour approaches.

Yeah, it was a normal day at work and did my usual routine. Towards afternoon. I received two Valentine text greetings, one from my mother and the other from my friend, Juvy Panos. I left the office at 7:45 in the evening, quite very late because I forgot the passing of time haha!

I went to Magallanes MRT station and to my horror, the platform area was already flooded with commuters! It took almost an hour before I got in at MRT. It was during this time that I found myself a total stranger among women. All of them were either carrying a bouquet of flowers or a box of cake. When I arrived at Trinoma, I had to endure another round of standing in the long queue for a van ride and watching couples tucking each other with the girls, again, either clutching a bouquet of flowers or a box of whatever was that.

I spent the whole night of Valentine's day on the road! I arrived in Caloocan at 11:30. By the time I reached the house I was so extremely drained! But I did not go to sleep right away, I ate my dinner and watched the coverage of TV 5 for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Wrapping V-Day with Winter Olympics

Even though my eyes were tired, I forced myself to stay awake so that I could watch the lone Philippine representative and the first Filipino Winter Olympian ever, Michael Christian Martinez, to perform in the ice rink. He was among the 24 competitors in the men's division of Figure Ice Skating. It was so awesome, I found him very charming and talented in the ice rink. It was so inspiring to hear the comments of foreign anchors at the Winter Olympics.

The commentators were all praised for the Filipino Winter Olympian, they said Martinez was a revelation in the ice rink to think that Philippines has no winter season. He did well, though he earned a 1 point deduction due to his fall on his first triple axel rotation, he got back on his feet and showed more spectacular rotations including the triple double toes, double flip, the biellman spin-unusual for men ice skater according to commentators- and all those swirling techniques.

He finished 19th at the finale of the event. Granting that the Philippines is not part of the Winter nations in the world and no delegates in the past Winter Olympics, Martinez's finished on the top 20 spot can be considered a stellar achievement. But more than his good performance, Martinez made history of being the first Filipino and Southeast Asian figure ice skater in the Winter Olympics.

I went to bed at 1:30 in the morning and by the time I wake up, valentine's day is over ^___^

Saturday, February 8, 2014

I haven't read this book yet, just came to know it when I watched The 700 Club Asia last week. The title is so catchy right? ^____^

For single ladies, it is ultra difficult to survive living in a country that abhors spinsterhood. The ridiculous system of our morbid society dictates that we should get hitch or else we will be considered second-class citizens. It's as old as the idea of arranged marriage during war time but surprisingly, it still exists especially in the provinces!

It's a bloody hell trying to cope up with people's constant prodding why on earth girls take so long to get married when the world offers several options how to snag a guy. DUH!! As if guys are delicate goblets that can be sneaked any time from the shelves of a department store .

Haaay! I've been through it and already immune to the intrusion. Oh, but yes, this question, "Why is there a Man and He is not Mine?," at times often crossed in my mind, but since I am already tired wrangling with myself where in the heck of the universe Mr. Someone is hiding, I just avoided a scene where I would yield to self-pity.

According to the author, Orpah Marasigan, the book is more like her true story. She is 53 and unmarried and somewhat felt the same mysterious phenomenon that all single ladies beyond 35 have been experiencing, the why-the-boys-did-not-dash-toward-me stuff, thus asking endlessly "Why is there a Man and He is not Mine?"

She wonders why many single women struggle with the pain of waiting, living with a wounded heart, dealing with jerks, getting involve with married men, lured into online dating and other love troubles, when they could find inner peace with God.

Marasigan further revealed in the interview at pep.ph: "In the story, I invite people to understand what it means to wait on the Lord, and understand what it means "Bring your loneliness to the Lord". How do you dealt with jerks, how do you cope up with people's constant inquiry "Why are you not married yet?"

She also shared her struggles and her disappointment with lost love and eventually her peace of mind and contentment that there is God who pacifies a troubled spirit. She further explains that this book aims to encourage readers to reflect on their personal journey to self-discovery, healing and love.

Sounds pretty inspiring and a must-read book. I am looking forward to buy a copy and read the author's personal sharing, because the truth is, I am already tired confronting myself with the same issue of finding "The One" in due time because up to now I am wondering if that "due time" will ever come haha!

Well, the trouble sometimes is, we keep on waiting for that perfect moment/right timing to come where we can be madly in love towards someone, the reality is, in a world where appalling issues of achievement, suitability, ideal partner, peer acceptance and comfortable life are the priorities of some people, most often than not, the universe might crumble into pieces first before we could find that "perfect moment".

There's no perfect moment and right timing because we always have reasons to create each time we are in a situation where we have to make a crucial decision, then the cycle of putting off plans begins. Unless we learn to accept imperfections and start realizing that today is the right time, we can never get that perfect moment, not even in our lifetime.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Hurrah! Yesterday, February 5, the world's largest social networking site turned ten years old. Yes, a decade of innovative socializing! Facebook, no doubt, had revolutionized the way we communicate and connect online. Ten
years on, this social networking site still fascinates people and continue to
dominate the landscape of social networking site. Though some technology
analysts made a fearless prediction that Facebook might suffer the fate of its
now defunct “nemeses” with the existence of new social networking sites, so
far, it shows no signs of slowing down.

By
the end of 2010, Facebook’s users grew enormously that if this site is a nation, it will surpass the number of population in China. It went public in
April 2012.

My
“Inception” in Facebook

I
joined Facebook in June 2007 but during that period, people did not know
Facebook yet, and everyone was hook with Friendster. So I was reluctant to fully concentrate on FB because there was no one to “talk” to. Lol!

In
the middle of 2008, my fascination towards Friendster gradually waned and I
became disillusioned with some of its unexciting features. The fact that we
cannot view the profile of our friends invisibly added to my dissatisfaction.

Then I found that in Facebook, we can stalk people secretly haha! And we can
chat directly to friends without waiting eternity for a reply. So there, I
“migrated” thoroughly and deleted my Friendster account.

My
“Lookback”

As
part of the 10th anniversary, Facebook presents “lookback”, a feature that instantly creates a user’s collated
video of history in the site. I did not “avail” this feature because I just
don’t feel it haha!

So here, I will look back how I’d "travelled" for the last seven years in the site.

I rarely change my profile
picture because I find it pointless to do such.

I am one of the few Facebook users in
the world who did not go insane with the “relationship” feature (maybe
because there’s nothing to change lol!). Others frantically experimented
status’s updates from “single” to “engage” to “in a relationship” to
“complicated”. I maintained, I will only let "relationship" visible if I got married hehe!It's so senseless to put "in a relationship with..." when the next couple of months you will separate.

I never completely revealed
sensitive information about myself.

My profile is not public. You cannot search me unless we have common friends.

I made two or three quiz
applications about European Queen Consorts four years ago.

I never tried playing any of the Facebook’s
games even during the celebrated days of Farmville, it's a waste of time. I am more interested with trivia quizzes.

I created an individual page for
each of my blogs to drive traffic to my sites.

I never posted a video nor shared
video links

I rarely “liked” posts/pictures
haha!

I only shared newsworthy things.

I cringed with other users’ too
personal posts. Can they just keep it with themselves?

It took a year before I uploaded
my first cover photo. I was reluctant to “revolutionize my cover page
because it cannot be privatized. Later, I yielded to the trend and
uploaded my first cover photo in September 2012.

Like
the rest of Facebook users who, at some point, became too excited with the wall
posting phenomenon and the delight of expressing anything, I had some shares of “troubles”
too, but I learned lessons from it and realized it’s better to keep silent and
shut my mouth on trivial issues.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

This is my first entry for the month of February. And since Valentine's Day is just a week away, I will talk wistfully about "LOVE" and its baffling issues to girls, well, including me, who are quite unsuccessful in the field of romance.For every girl who had been so impatiently waiting for ages to find someone to be with, the question "Is He into Me" sounds like the most agonizing thing to contemplate whenever a man with a confusing motive strikes in the horizon. So confusing that answers to this question appear to be as elusive as the idea of finding “The One”.I already surpassed the critical stage of a woman's life where the craving of marrying is as urgent as waiting for the next bus ride during rush hour, still I cannot help but wonder why the world is a little unfair to me :-PWhile other girls changed boyfriends as fast as they changed underwear, I am yet to go out for my first date. Gosh! Can you believe it? At this stage of my existence??? Well, life is just so mysterious and boys' preference in women is as bizarre as life itself. Last night, I
watched The 700 Club Asia and so
amused with the topic of the night” Why is there a man and He is not mine”. You
know that perplexing thought of attraction and body language and all those felt-like-seemed-like actuations, then suddenly you realized it's pretty stupid to wait for something that has never been there in the first place.

Then the hosts, Peter Kairuz and Camilla Kim-Galvez, uttered something that's so quite familiar "DON'T ASSUME"boooom!! Unless a man say it specifically that he likes you, then don't really assume...if everything fails, just wait for God to direct you to a grander plan.

“Waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one's thoughts.”

- Elisabeth Elliot

And so here I am, not sure what to do whether to wait or just explore the world and accept my destiny as it is. While
searching for something interesting online, I landed at
girlsguideto.com and found self-pondering thoughts about “He is not just into You”.
This is worthy to share so that, according to the site, “girls will not waste their time with a guy who is not worthy of attention and affection and whose desire darted elsewhere”.

HE IS NOT INTO YOU...

1. If he's not asking you out.

If a man is excited about a woman, he can’t stop himself— he wants more and he’s going to want to take it further. If he’s not
making a move, it’s not because he is ‘scared’. The only thing he is scared of
is how not attracted to you he is.

2. If he’s not communicating with you.

He says he did not have a moment in his busy day to call or text you, then you will find out he is frantically texting and communicating nonstop to someone over there. The real
reason is that you are not on his mind, and would not want to talk to you. Beware, this guy is very comfortable with the idea of disappointing you. Save yourself from heartache. Move on.

3. If he makes lots of empty promises.

He keeps talking as if you have a future, but he takes little or no action. He
talks about having a future together or all the fun things you will soon, but
he doesn’t plan a date! Some men promise the moon, sun and stars, but
deliver…nothing! Think about this. If he can’t
come up with a few things that make you swoon despite his pocketbook, he isn’t
that into you.

4. If he makes last minute plans to see you.

You are just so glad he calls that you don’t realize he is definitely
not that into you or he thinks that you have no life and would be readily
available anytime. Either way, if you accept, you aren’t scoring
any points. You were probably one of the women in his “little black book” and
not his first call.

5. If he avoids the “getting-to-know you” conversations!

He really does not want to get to know you better because if he does, he will ask questions about you, your life and what you want, curious to find out the real you. If not, then, well, he is not just into you.

6. If you initiate and he doesn't follow through.

If you're really into a guy and you think he may be shy, try initiating a
conversation, phone call or texting session. If you start the conversation,
he'll want to continue it. However, if he doesn't return your calls or texts or
tries to end the conversation quickly, it's a red flag sign that he is not into you. So move on. There are still plenty of worthy things to work on.

7. If he says he just wants to be friends.

Urggh!! But yeah, he means it. Don't look for excuses. If you think being friends and too familiar will lead to more wonderful, it won’t. He isn’t into you in almost every case. When he finds someone who
rocks his world, you are history.

8. If he keeps searching for a woman who can meet his criteria.

Or you even catch him at it, he’s not ready to settle down with you. Even if he
still maintains inappropriate contact with ex-girlfriends or even with women in his circle, he’s not ready to invest time in you or ready to have any kind of future. Oh girl wake up! He’s
just not worth your time. If he continue looking for someone else, save yourself from heartaches and move on. You’ll find someone who will be so thankful for you and will accept you just as you are even if you have no astounding achievement in life or have no riches to boast.

9. If he does not want to marry you.

If the guy will say he does not want to get married or does not
believe in marriage, or has ‘issues’ with marriage, will, rest assured, someday he will get married, sadly, to someone else and not to you.

10. If he seems irritated whenever you ask somethingLet's admit it, a guy who likes you, is always available when there's something you needed and will be willingly help you. But if someone sounds easily annoyed when you ask something, but then very available to other women's inquiries, it's a clean sign that he is not into you.

Okay, girls, can you finally gauge your man's real intention if he is really into you?